Monday, May 21, 2012

Unsnagging the Kettlebell Snatch (Part 2)

First, let us review a couple key points of the kettlebell
snatch – during the snatch:

The body movement (excluding the arms) should look just
like the swing:your body should lower
into a functional squat; it should explode into a Locked Out position; your spine should be
straightened and extended in bias; your shoulder should be loose and relaxed
during movement.

The arc of travel should only exist in the motion of the Pre-Swing.

Once you initiate
movement with your Lock Out, you should pull the kettlebell as close to your
body as possible making the path of vertical travel as close to the body as
possible (much like a Kettlebell Clean)

The height of vertical travel should stop BEFORE the
moment of snatch completion to allow for proper deceleration of the kettlebell via technique, NOT gripping.

Your upper extremity should move from a starting
Pre-Swing position of Pronation, Internal Rotation into Supination, External
Rotation and terminal Shoulder Elevation and Elbow Extension.

At the top of the snatch, be sure your wrist is neutral
by keeping your knuckles pointed to the sky.

(6a) This is where a properly designed kettlebell is in
order.If your kettlebell is bearing weight against your carpals, the handle is not long enough for your body’s
needs.If the bell is too long, it
begins to smack the proximal half of your forearm, and, is now too long for your
body.The ideal landing zone for the
kettlebell to bear weight at the end of a snatch is the distal half of the
forearm in the interosseous muscular space.

So now let’s talk about common problems, hang-ups,and mistakes – followed by some solutions and
practical drilled to perfecting the snatch (in follow up posts).

Perhaps two most common snagging points with the snatch are
these:

1. Uncontrolled Arc of Travel, and,

2. Uncontrolled Height of Travel

Uncontrolled Arc of Travel

The Uncontrolled Arc of Travel usually yields a kettlebell
traveling at high velocity toward the end of the snatch which remains
uncontrolled.It also makes the
kettlebell flop over the top of your wrist, rather than your wrist moving
around the center of mass of the kettlebell to control deceleration.This leads to painful beatings of your wrist
extensors.Many individuals learning kettlebells
who do not receive detailed instruction regarding this common snag come home
with terribly bruised forearms.

Picture Sequence of Uncontrolled Arc, versus,

Picture Sequence of proper technique.

For the Uncontrolled Height of Travel, two common
compensatory strategies naturally emerge. The first common snagging point is an
Excessive Height of Travel. The second
compensatory expression is Insufficient Height of Travel.

Excessive Height of Travel

Desperate to create enough vertical height for the snatch
technique, an individual creates too much vertical momentum making the
kettlebell, once again, flop over the top of the wrist.The excess of vertical momentum translates to
angular momentum creating too much velocity for an individual to decelerate
through the means of proper technique.Therefore, to prevent the forearm from getting banged up, most
individuals will grip intently to prevent the kettlebell from flipping over the
top of the wrist leading to an almost drooping finish to the kettlebell
snatch.The key difference between an
Uncontrolled, Excessive Height of Travel and the Uncontrolled Arc of Travel is
that with the Excessive Height of Travel, the individual is successfully
bringing the kettlebell close to their body creating a vertical lift.The Uncontrolled Arc of Travel has no
vertical lift component – it is as if the individual is doing kettlebell swing
too high and accidentally turned it into a bad kettlebell snatch.

Picture Sequence of Uncontrolled Arc, versus,

Picture Sequence of proper technique.

Insufficient Height of Travel

Having whacked themselves on the wrist/forearm one too many
times, an individual will not bring the kettlebell height up to bear and will
use a Partial Snatch, Clean and Press compensation to seemingly make the
required height of the snatch technique.This one is fairly easy to spot. The problem with this compensatory movement is that not only is the total benefit of the snatch technique now robbed from the individual, now each repetition done incorrectly yields excessive stress forces on the wrist, forearm, elbow, and shoulder complex. As always, excessive stress forces are ALWAYS BAD. For this reason, when demonstrating poor technique, I ALWAYS use a small kettlebell to avoid excessive stress and injury. This is highly advised if you are an instructor. There is nothing more embarrassing than an instructor demonstrating poor technique and getting hurt in the process.

There are many other common snagging points for the
kettlebell to discuss. Also, there are some nice drills and key points of focus
which aide in perfecting the snatch technique. More coming up in Unsnagging the
Kettlebell Snatch (Part 3)!